History Main / NiceMice

Contrast MalevolentMice for mice being depicted as the opposite of this trope, ResourcefulRodent for rodents portrayed as clever and resourceful, YouDirtyRat for rats who are portrayed as disgusting, often as the UnpleasantAnimalCounterpart to mice. Compare ScrewballSquirrel, the squirrel equivalents who are hyperactive pranksters (although there are just as many outright villainous examples). See also RighteousRabbit for the lagomorph end of the spectrum, and CuteKitten and PreciousPuppy, the feline and canine equivalents respectively.

Contrast ResourcefulRodent for rodents portrayed as clever and resourceful, YouDirtyRat for rats who are portrayed as disgusting, often as the UnpleasantAnimalCounterpart to mice. Compare ScrewballSquirrel, the squirrel equivalents who are hyperactive pranksters (although there are just as many outright villainous examples). See also RighteousRabbit for the lagomorph end of the spectrum, and CuteKitten and PreciousPuppy, the feline and canine equivalents respectively.

Contrast YouDirtyRat for rodents, specifically rats, who are portrayed as disgusting, often as the UnpleasantAnimalCounterpart to mice. Compare ScrewballSquirrel, the squirrel equivalents who are hyperactive pranksters (although there are just as many outright villainous examples). See also RighteousRabbit for the lagomorph end of the spectrum, and CuteKitten and PreciousPuppy, the feline and canine equivalents respectively.

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* In ''Franchise/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'', mice are revealed to be highly intelligent pan-dimensional beings; the little furry squeaky things we see are just their avatars in this dimension. Millions of years ago, they built the MasterComputer Deep Thought as a means of discovering the Answer to the Great Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything. [[GoneHorriblyRight They succeeded.]] Somewhat [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] though in that they act like assholes, treating Arthur as if he's nothing, and suggesting that they could just take his brain, dice and it up and replace it with a computerized one and nobody would know the difference.

* '' ComicBook/MouseGuard'', naturally. Though rogue mice feature as villains in the first story arc, none of them are as bad as Cats or Weasels.

* ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'': The mice in Jon's house (most of them, anyway) are friendly towards Garfield. Jon, however, dislikes them and very often demands that Garfield get them out of the house.

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* Mice were said to be associated with Apollon, the greek god of light, and he even has an epiphet related to this, Smintheus ("of the mice"). That said, [[LightIsNotGood Apollon was also associated with destruction]], so his association with mice was as much due to their cuddliness as much as the fact that they're pests and plague-carriers.

* Chuck E. Cheese is the amicable mascot of a pizza restaurant/arcade for kids. Eighties kids will remember it as [=ShowBiz=] Pizza.

* In Creator/ArtSpiegelman's ''ComicBook/{{Maus}}'', a narrative of the author's father's struggle to survive the Holocaust, the Jews are drawn as mice. [[CatsAreMean Nazis are drawn as cats]], and the Allied troops (particularly Americans) are drawn as dogs.

** Grasshopper mice, native to Northern Americas, are tiny, fuzzy, and cute mice that like to [[EatingTheEnemy eat insects, most of them that do harm to regular mice]]. Their favorite targets are often [[ScaryScorpions venomous scorpions]], {{spiders|AreScary}}, [[CreepyCentipedes centipedes]], and occasionally [[SnakesAreSinister snakes]].
** Many subspecies of hopping mice are known for their powerful long, narrow hind legs that can jump higher than most regular rodents, and sometimes prey on small insects and reptiles. Although they do come from the notorious and dreaded LandDownUnder, some subspecies of hopping mice are also affectionate pets in the Australian neighbourhood.

* Timothy from ''WesternAnimation/{{Dumbo}}'' is one of the few nice characters in a film filled with [[{{Jerkass}} Jerks]].

These mice characters are designed to be likable one way or another. Some are heroic, some are nice, and some are both. A potential PestController, if anything.

These mice characters are designed to be likable one way or another. Some are heroic, some are nice, and some are both.

Contrast YouDirtyRat for rodents, specifically rats, who are portrayed as disgusting, often as the UnpleasantAnimalCounterpart to mice. See also RighteousRabbit for the lagomorph end of the spectrum.

* As mentioned under YouDirtyRat, the common stereotypes are inverted with pet rodents. While rats can be well-trained, friendly, loving, and compassionate, even trained mice will sometimes bite their owner for no obvious reason. Mice also tend to escape if given half the chance, unlike the more loyal domestic rats, which usually return to their cage after exploring a bit. Mice often have less desire to keep themselves clean than rats do. Finally, male mice housed together usually end up killing one another, unlike male rats which can co-habit peacefully.

* [[WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends Garfield]] once railed against this trope, noting that mice were disease-spreading vermin.

* Charles and Nora from ''WesternAnimation/TimothyGoesToSchool''. While Charles is the nice and mostly shy. Nora is a little pushy around others but does become very kind around other students most of the time. Especially with Lilly.

* An expansion of TabletopGame/BigEyesSmallMouth, called ''Big Ears, Small Mouse'' allowed role play in a MouseWorld, similar to ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfNIMH'', ''WesternAnimation/TheRescuers'' and ''WesternAnimation/ChipNDaleRescueRangers''.

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* Defied in-Verse in ''Discworld/MovingPictures'' by Definitely Not Squeak, a mouse who began talking under the influence of Holy Wood cinemagic. Told of this trope, he was outraged that humans consider his kind sweet and delicate, as he was the most badass mouse in the house and proud of it.

* ''Literature/{{Redwall}}'' uses this ''a lot''.

* ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'': A lot of Jerry's nastiness is in provoked self-defense from Tom, but some of it is just tormenting Tom for the hell of it. When it comes to other animals, though, Jerry is pretty universally nice. He's nice to canaries, baby woodpeckers, baby ducks, baby seals, escaped lions, circus Elephants (on more than one occasion even). Despite the occasional moral ambivalence, he is usually the more good-natured in his feud with Tom as well, and the most likely to at least attempt a truce or relent when their war goes a step too far (he once saved Tom after he almost drowned trying to chase after him for example).
* ''WesternAnimation/HermanAndKatnip'', a knockoff of Tom and Jerry attempted to play this straight, trying to cast the mouse Herman as the hero. However more then a few viewers, including ''Creator/MattGroening'', felt Herman was a subversion, due to his treatment of the HarmlessVillain, Katnip verging into {{Sadist}}ic. Itchy of the Simpsons mentioned below is stated to be based on his AlternativeCharacterInterpretation of Herman being evil.

* The mice in ''Disney/{{Cinderella}}'' are not just nice, they are ultimately responsible for helping Cinderella's dream come true.
* Roquefort the mouse from ''Disney/TheAristocats'' is a loyal friend to the titular characters.
* The mice in ''Disney/TheRescuers'' and ''Disney/TheRescuersDownUnder'' are so nice they form a society to rescue children in need.

* Timothy from ''Disney/{{Dumbo}}'' is one of the few nice characters in a film filled with [[{{Jerkass}} Jerks]].
* Same with most of the mice from ''Disney/TheGreatMouseDetective''. The villain, Ratigan, in contrast, appears to be a [[YouDirtyRat rat]], even though he vehemently denies being one (he [[AvertedTrope was definitely a mouse]] in the books). The exception to this trope being Ratigan's {{mooks}} who are thuggish criminals. Basil himself [[GoodIsNotNice may not be nice, but he's still good]].

* An expansion of TabletopGame/BigEyesSmallMouth, called ''Big Ears, Small Mouse'' allowed role play in a MouseWorld, similar to ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfNIMH'', ''Disney/TheRescuers'' and ''WesternAnimation/ChipNDaleRescueRangers''.

** Sylvester is victim to a ScrewySquirrel rodent trying to ''starve him to death'' in "WesternAnimation/CannedFeud" and is also victim to a hungry mouse who is trying to eat him in ''Snow Business''.

* Subverted with the mice in ''WesternAnimation/TheNutcrackerPrince" as despite many of the mice are more sillier than both the Mouse King and his mother, they are still loyal to their king and try to attack the toys.

* In ''Franchise/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'', mice are revealed to be highly intelligent pan-dimensional beings; the little furry squeaky things we see are just their avatars in this dimension. Millions of years ago, they built the SuperComputer Deep Thought as a means of discovering the Answer to the Great Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything. [[GoneHorriblyRight They succeeded.]] Somewhat [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] though in that they act like assholes, treating Arthur as if he's nothing, and suggesting that they could just take his brain, dice and it up and replace it with a computerized one and nobody would know the difference.

* The mouse featured in some of Creator/BeatrixPotter's books such as Miss Tiddlemouse and the mice featured in TheTailorofGloucester are this. With the exception of the male and female mice from The Tale Of Two Naughty Mice who are trouble makers.
* The mouse in ''The Gruffalo'' by ''Creator/JuliaDonaldson is an "easily underestimated" example - he's little, cute and a lot weaker than the predators he meets, but [[GuileHero he convinces]] them all that he's [[BlatantLies the scariest creature in this wood]].

* An expansion of TabletopGames/BigEyesSmallMouth, called ''Big Ears, Small Mouse'' allowed role play in a MouseWorld, similar to ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfNIMH'', ''Disney/TheRescuers'' and ''WesternAnimation/ChipNDaleRescueRangers''.

* ''WesternAnimation/HermanAndKatnip'', a knockoff of Tom and Jerry attempted to play this straight, trying to cast the mouse Herman as the hero. However more then a few viewers, including ''Creator/MattGroening'', felt Herman was a subversion, due to his treatment of the HarmlessVillain, Katnip verging into {{Sadistic}}. Itchy of the Simpsons mentioned below is stated to be based on his AlternativeCharacterInterpretation of Herman being evil.

** Moving on to ''Literature/TheLionTheWitchAndTheWardrobe'', the mice ''earn'' their rank among the ascended animals by making a heroic attempt at SaveYourDeity. In that story, mice chew off the ropes that bind [[spoiler:the corpse of Aslan]]. As a result, mice are promoted to the rank of talking animal, and many years latter the mice are considered among the most brave and honorable of all the animals.